Rapunzel had spent the last two days meeting every person she could. And she and Pascal had done very well, meeting almost everyone at least once- and the locals almost twice a day, maybe more. She'd met people who smelled interesting, like Maddox the Butcher who gave her and Pascal free sandwiches when they cleaned the shop; like Rubert who sold them flowers which Rapunzel put in the Snuggly Duckling to brighten up the place; and she really liked Jezz the candy shop owner who, she learned, brought the Pub Thugs candy every Tuesday and Thursday. She'd been staying in a spare room of the Snuggly Duckling for the past two days, and in exchange she had a job! She and Pascal met people at the door (which was how she met everyone) and sometimes showed them to their table if it was crowded.
But the one thing she loved more than anything about Corona, better than the free flowers and candy, was that the people treated her like she'd been there all her life. Not like she was some strange cloaked girl from the woods, which really she was. Maybe they were all harboring secrets like her- maybe that's why they accepted her odd appearance so easily. And she was in love with everything about Corona, too- the smells (like fresh bread every single morning), the sounds the horses' shoes made, kind of alike an equestrian tap-dance, and the amazing people.
Two days since she'd last seen Flynn, she was going around the Snuggly Duckling arranging the flowers, or trying to, when something about the place caught her off guard- there was practically no color in the bar. Sure, there were some paintings, but they were all faded and she couldn't figure them out. So, after she'd fixed her flowers, she'd went to the nearby river and smashed rocks, mud, dirt, flower petals, and special shells she'd bought (with her own money that she'd made!) and had created a collection of some paints, yellow, green, blue and a rusty red color. All of them were going to be perfect, she decided as she carried them back in her massive yellow cloak. She was seated at the bar, painting a collage of vines along the side, when the one and only Flynn Rider walked in the door, muttering something and looking quite upset.
Rapunzel waved at him, grinning when she first saw him, then frowning slightly. He looked awful- like he hadn't slept in the past few days, heavy bags under his eyes and a slouch that was also quite tight- like he could spring into action but only if he really had to. Otherwise, he looked about ready to collapse.
"Hey, Flynn," Rapunzel said timidly. "What's up? Haven't seen you in a while! How have you been?"
Flynn looked at Rapunzel and to her elation, he smiled and ran a hand through his hair. "Hey. I've been doing fine- just haven't been sleeping much lately. How are you? I hear you practically run this place now."
Rapunzel's mood at his mood brightened, and she grinned. "Well Pascal and I certainly have our hands full!" She turned around and pointed to her new paints. "We're going to paint things today!" She told him, imagining the whole bar covered with her pictures. It made her feel warm and happy for some reason. She then noticed her cloak was all askew and fixed it, then turned back to Flynn. "So what have you been up to? You look really tired."
Flynn rubbed the back of his neck, and he looked…almost shy. Rapunzel had never seen that in him before, and she grew increasingly nervous and curios as to what would make him anxious. He leaned closer to her. "Actually, I was wondering if I could talk you to for a few moments, Rapunzel. In private?"
"Oh- um, of course!" Well, this was odd. Immensely odd. She felt herself blushing for no reason whatsoever, other than the fact that she'd never been asked to be spoken to in private. And for someone as known as Flynn Rider seemed to be (or so she'd heard) was it a big deal? It seemed like it was, so she followed him behind the Snuggly Duckling, glad that the Thugs and Pascal were all doing other things and didn't notice her absence.
"What's going on?" She asked Flynn once they were alone. "is everything alright?"
"Yeah, kind of. I mean, nothing's happened to me." Flynn said, shoving his hands in his pockets. He looked around for a moment. "Rapunzel. I have a very serious question to ask you."
Serious? Oh man. Okay, Rapunzel could handle serious. She even had a serious face, which she put on- (it involved furrowing her brows and looking intently at him.) "What's wrong?"
Flynn looked at her, chuckled a bit, which kind of undermined what he'd said about being serious. He then turned back to being serious and placed his arms on her shoulders. "Have you met anyone from the Kingdom?"
That wasn't a serious question! It was easy! "Oh sure, Flynn! I've met pretty much everyone! Rubert the flower-man, Jezz the candy owner, the Pub Thugs, but that's because I work here-"
"Wait you work at the Snuggly Duckling?" Flynn asked, a level of alarm creeping into his voice. Rapunzel thought she'd made that clear, but nodded again. "Uh-huh! I set the tables and greet people and paint!"
Flynn stepped back and paced a bit, frowning and mumbling to himself. He looked really mad about something.
"Flynn, can you just tell me what you're so upset about?" Rapunzel tried, hoping he would. It had to involve her, or the people of Corona who visited the bar. "What is it?" She felt like she'd asked for the umpteenth time.
"Has anyone ever come into the Snuggly Duckling that has appeared on these?" Flynn asked, then produced a pictured that read 'Wanted', then with a sum of money. Rapunzel studied the picture- this one was of two scarred up men. One had an eye patch. She shook her head.
"I've never seen anyone like that come in before," She said. "No- and neither has Pascal. Who are they?"
Flynn sighed, obviously relieved but still on edge. It comforted Rapunzel that he was glad to know she was safe. Nobody had really taken notice of her before, much less her safety. She was frankly touched. "Are they ruffians? They look like it."
"Yeah. But they're nothing to worry about."
"You seemed really worried," Rapunzel whispered, trying to comfort him. "Don't be. I can handle myself!" She smiled reassuringly. And Pascal wouldn't let anyone touch me!"
Flynn smiled genuinely for the first time. "You mean your little frog thing? Oh yeah, he's a killer." He sighed and puffed out his cheeks. "Say, you have the time?"
Flynn always needed to be somewhere. Rapunzel sighed, wondering where he was always running off too. "Do you have to go?" She asked pathetically.
"Go? Who said I was going anywhere?" He said, raising an eyebrow. "I was going to see if you wanted some lunch."
"It's about 3 in the afternoon!" Rapunzel said, giggling. "But of course!"
"Great. Because I know this one girl who works at a bar…." He trailed off and it took Rapunzel a second to realize he was talking about her. Her! She grinned and elbowed him.
"Mr. Rider! You're picking up other women?" She felt odd after she'd said it. Like…like she owned him? But how could she explain it? She couldn't. She couldn't explain that out of all the people she'd met in Corona, Flynn stood out the most- out of everyone. And, well, she'd wondered if maybe she stood out to Flynn too? What would that mean? Standing out to someone? Did it even mean anything? Rapunzel was letting her mind go skipping through a meadow of dreams, and she needed to reel it in.
But that was hard, and skipping was fun.
"Where to?" She asked, joking as they walked back into the Snuggly Duckling.
Flynn chuckled again, and he called out to Hookhand who was polishing his hook. "Table for two!"